DANVERS — Coach Brian St. Pierre tried during preseason to impress upon his St. John’s Prep football team that last year is last year and this year is this year.
“A lot of those guys are gone,” the sixth-year coach said, regarding his 2018 team that broke through to win the Division 1 Super Bowl last December. “This is their time. This is their time to make their mark. It’s the first thing we talked about when we all got together.”
The Eagles captured their fourth championship in the Super Bowl era (the others being 1982, 1997 and 2012) with a victory over Catholic Memorial and Eagles’ personal nemesis John DiBiaso last Dec. 1 at Gillette Stadium. And while many of those associated with that championship team have moved on, one who hasn’t is record-setting quarterback Matt Crowley (who broke his coach’s single-season passing record last season with 1,975 yards). He will be one of four captains, along with Matt Duchemin (running back/cornerback), Cooper Smith (lineman) and tight end/defensive tackle Anthony Fagan.
“We’ll be relying on those four guys,” St. Pierre said. “But for a lot of the other positions, there’s a lot of competition for a lot of spots. We have a lot of new faces.”
One problem, St. Pierre said, is “we don’t have a ton of linemen. But they’ve worked out all summer to get stronger.”
One of the returnees, however, is Smith, a 300-pound guard/tackle who should replace some of the bulk that James Taylor took with him when he graduated. A second anchor on the line will be Mason Davis. Also expected to play a big role up front is Collin Taylor.
Once again, there’s no shortage of running backs for the Eagles, including Duchemin, Lynn’s James Guy, a sophomore; Pat Nistl and fullback/tailback Nick Masterson.
While Crowley will not have Super Bowl MVP Wes Rockett on the other end of his passes, freshman Joenel Aguero could emerge as a weapon.
“We are way more inexperienced than we were last year,” said St. Pierre. However, “you hope that these kids see what last year’s team, and learned about what it took to get there. We won’t know for sure until the season starts.”
The Eagles opened their season this past Saturday with a 28-0 home win over Bridgewater-Raynham, a team they defeated last season. This Saturday (3) they are at Haverhill.
Two teams not on the Eagles’ schedule this season are Everett and Malden Catholic. The Lancers opted out of playing league games two years ago, and the Crimson Tide, who had become fierce rivals of The Prep’s, chose not to play the Eagles.
“I wish we were playing them,” St. Pierre said. “I don’t know why they dropped us. It hasn’t hurt their program that much to play us.”
Schedule:
9/7 – vs. Bridgewater-Raynham (W 28-0)
9/14 – at Haverhill (3)
9/20 – at Central Catholic (7)
9/27 – vs. Somerville (7)
10/4 – at Westford Academy (7)
10/12 – vs. Catholic Memorial (2)
10/19 – at BC High (2)
11/28 – vs. Xaverian (10)
